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SEG AR-601 ADSL ROUTERSep 21 '01 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line If you need point and click to set your equipment up, then avoid this unit. If you want complete control over your router, take a look! OVERVIEW The AR-601 is a combined ADSL Modem and Router - an ADSL router. Quite simply, one end plugs into your ADSL line, replacing your existing ADSL modem and the other end connects to your LAN's 10/100BaseT Hub (or switch). This gives all of your network users shared simultaneous connectivity to the Internet, making maximum use of your ADSL line. Thanks to the team over at CD-RW Central they provided us with an AR-601 unit for review purposes after they read our review on the D-Link DSL-504. Not only that, we even get to keep the unit as well! Will that influence us in the review? Not a chance! CONTENTS The box contains a floppy disk that has the full HTML technical overview of the routers command set as well as links to key questions most users will probably seek an answer to. A double sided A4 sheet of paper with quick install instructions on it, two cat 5 cables, one being a cross over cable, RJ11 cable for the ADSL connection and a 9 volt power supply. CURRENT TEST SYSTEM The system we used was the exact same as the ones used while testing the D-Link DSL-504 Router/Switch. SERVER: Athlon 1Ghz Processor, 300MB RAM, Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server, the Alcatel FROG plugged straight into the USB port on the machine. The system had been set up with DHCP enabled and Internet sharing as well, so the server always sat at the 192.168.0.1 setting. By using Direct Update and Dynamic IP routing via dyndns.org, we also ran our own web server and ftp point. The workstations used are the same hardware specification but running Windows 2000 with SP2. Once again, we decided to let the router act as the DHCP server, we re-adjusted the settings on our computers here to allow for this. CONFIGURING The unit itself is very clean looking and cannot be described as stylish, functional would be a more apt phrase to use. Considering that it's probably not going to be the centre of attraction in any place, this really does not make any difference at all, but it is nice to have something that looks cool when you have flashing lights! There is not very much to see at the back of the unit just a power connector socket, console connector, 10BaseT and ADSL connector, that's it. To configure the router you will have to run a TELNET session using windows Telnet software. that's right, no fancy web front end to setting this unit up. Reading the instruction sheet it is pointed out to you that you need a basic understanding of TCP/IP concepts to install and operate this product, and if you don’t have these skills, then you should get someone who is to install it for you. This is a paragraph you will soon understand to be very accurate as this unit does have a massive amount of internal configuration commands available, but thankfully you will only need to use a few of them to get everything up and running. After unpacking all the bits, the power adaptor was plugged in, the RJ45 cable was inserted into the back of the unit and the other end into a 3Com 10/100 Switch. The RJ11 cable was not inserted as this was to be left until we had done the basic configuration of the router. The default IP address of the router is 192.168.7.1 with NAT enabled, so as long as the PC you are connecting the router to has “Obtain IP automatically” then the PC will find the router without any problems. So, with the router turned on, we start the PC up and log into Windows. Going down to START, Run and type in: TELNET 192.168.7.1. and this will open up the main logon screen to this session. A prompt appears asking for a password. By default the password is ar601. You should change this as soon as you can before going onto the Internet (and you need to read the files on the floppy disk for how to do this). The first thing we need to do is set the router up with our username and password. Following the instructions we do the following: AR601 ppp 1 welogin username@hg14.btinternet.com password AR601 config save AR601 restart You should take your time typing in the commands and everything should go smoothly. The only thing to watch out for in a telnet session like this is that when you type restart, it appears as though the system is doing something and waiting. In fact the command has been executed and all you need to do is press the enter key one more time and the system will close the session off. Once that part of the configuration was done, all we had to do was make sure the lead was connected to the ADSL socket and the AR-601 did the rest! It really was that easy to get the unit online and running. The beauty of NAT is that all of the computers on your network are hidden from users on the Internet, unless internal ports have been assigned to allow access. As can be seen above, the computers on the network all point to 192.168.0.1 and in turn the router handles the true Internet IP address as well as it's local address. Because we are using a non standard port for our FTP server it meant we had to set up a port re-direct because by default the router was running NAT and this blocks out ports unless you specify the ones you want to use. NAT can be turned off, but the security benefits outweigh the slight hassle-factor in configuring the NAT side up. Setting this side of the AR-601 up meant us reading the detailed instructions on the disk manual. The first thing you have to do is disconnect the routers ADSL line and reset the unit. After that you do the following assuming you wanted your ftp server to run on port 999. AR601 adsl down AR601 nat inbound add ppp_device 999/tcp 192.168.7.3 AR601 config save AR601 restart It looks complicated, but in fact it's very simple in what it's doing. The supplied instruction go to great lengths in breaking everything down for you. Now you can reconnect the ADSL line cable. SUPPORT The information contained on the disk supplied with the unit has everything you could possibly need to get this unit up and running and configured in the way you require. The company web site will be making any future updates of firmware and tech support information available as and when required. CONTROL The one thing that should be pointed out about this unit is that you have a lot of control over the internal function of the router, but the manual does everything it can to make casual testing of commands something you avoid doing. We can't help but feel that saying that to most people will make them curious.... and when bored, start to play around, but with a little common sense we reckon you should not do anything too serious to the unit. In saying that, if you do mess it all up, get a good excuse ready, but we reckon the guys at SEG will be ready for most of them! CONCLUSIONS This unit does everything that it claims to. It's easy to set up, easy to connect and with a little patience easy to configure. For the average user, what more do you need? We would point out that anyone who expects things to be point and click with a nice GUI will be disappointed, though if you contact tech support in enough numbers then maybe they will spend the time creating one for you! We have also been told that various enhancements to the router firmware will probably be coming up in time, if required, so if you have any requests don't be shy, email the guys and let them know! At £179.00 plus VAT the unit does represent very good value for money. More so when you realise that the average user will set this product up, configure it, then probably never bother to look at it again!  |
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